The Greek Minister for Public Safety, Michalis Chrysochoidis, last week heralded the creation of an agency to investigate alleged cases of abusive or violent treatment of citizens by police after sacking two officers for allegedly mistreating a 35-year-old immigrant in front of her child in central Athens.

“Those two gentlemen are to leave the police force immediately and will never return,” Chrysochoidis said, referring to the two officers alleged to have handcuffed an Armenian woman in front of her 2-year-old child before bringing them both to the police precinct in Kypseli.

According to sources, the officers said they had reacted after the woman called them “animals” – a claim the woman has rejected.

Chrysochoidis said that a new agency would be set up to probe similar claims of misconduct by officers of the regular police force and the riot police unit (MAT). The agency would comprise ministry officials as well as former prosecutors and legal experts but no active members of the police force, to ensure that it remains independent, the minister said.

Chrysochoidis also heralded a review of the disciplinary process currently employed for police officers accused of alleged offenses with the aim of getting through a backlog of claims.

“The problem up until now has been that the system for dispensing justice in such cases has been hampered by bureaucracy, a lack of meritocracy and the absence of a serious examination of complaints lodged by citizens,” he said.

The minister noted that he could not guarantee that such instances of alleged police misconduct would not occur in the future. “What I am saying is that from now on, those who are guilty will be punished… we will crack down on lawlessness and safeguard human rights so that the minority that behaves unacceptably does not tarnish the image of the majority of officers,” Chrysochoidis said.

The minister added that officers will be expected to display their police ID numbers on their uniforms to ensure accountability.